When I was investigating the murders of Bud and Melanie Billings, I interviewed Robert Beasley, Bud’s attorney, about his deceased client’s business relationship with Cab Tice. Beasley said that 30 or 40 cars were missing from Tice’s former used car lot before it went out of business and that Bud Billings had done a nationwide record search on the car titles and vehicle identification numbers and couldn’t find them anywhere in the country.
WEAR TV’s Dan Thomas interviewed Tice in August 2009 about the missing cars.
“I have never re-titled any cars,” Tice said on camera. “I will say that Bud Billings/Worldco was a floor-planner. By this I mean, they provided financing for used car inventory. Any time any used car dealer goes out of business, he goes out of business owing the floor-planner for cars.â€
According to the affidavit that charged Tice with racketeering and was released yesterday, Tice went out owing more than $300,000.